Installation and upgrade of visualizations for managed networks

ABSTRACT

An embodiment may involve receiving a request to install or upgrade a performance analytics dashboard of a graphical user interface displayed on a client device. The performance analytics dashboard may define a data visualization related to a particular key performance indicator. A data model may represent configuration and operational characteristics of computing devices disposed within a managed network. The configuration and operational characteristics may include key performance indicators. The embodiment may also involve determining that installing or upgrading the performance analytics dashboard requires updating data within the data model. The embodiment may also involve receiving, by way of the graphical user interface, permission to update the data within the data model. The embodiment may also involve updating the data within the data model then installing or upgrading the performance analytics dashboard.

BACKGROUND

Managed networks may refer to various types of computer networks thatcan be remotely administered. This management may involve one or moreserver devices disposed with a remote network management platformexecuting management software to collect information about theconfiguration and operational states of computing devices in the managednetwork, and then presenting representations of this information by wayof one or more user interfaces. The user interfaces may be, forinstance, web-based user interfaces.

Some of the collected information may relate to key performanceindicators (KPIs). KPIs include any sort of measurement, reading, ordata that is relevant to the managed network. Thus, KPIs may reflectperformance of computing devices on the network itself (e.g., memoryutilization, processor utilization, transactions per second) orperformance of higher-level applications executing on the network (e.g.,number of times per day a user on the managed network has requested aparticular type of technical assistance). Among other capabilities, theuser interfaces may be able to display KPIs in numerous visualizations,such as charts, graphs, or tables.

SUMMARY

In conventional systems, visualizations of KPIs require these KPIs to besupported. The associations between KPIs and visualizations may bedefined in an underlying data model (e.g., a database schema) of theremote network management platform. Thus, installing or activating aparticular visualization may update the data model in order to includesupport for the necessary KPIs. This arrangement has a number ofdrawbacks for users of the remote network management platform. Notably,the users could potentially lose access to certain KPIs, or thedefinition of these KPIs may change, as a result of an upgrade.Furthermore, the act of installing or upgrading just one visualizationcould impact the entire data model, resulting in changes to the remotenetwork management platform in areas that are unrelated to KPIs orvisualizations.

The embodiments herein address these problems by allowing visualizationsto be defined independently from KPIs. By decoupling visualizations andKPIs, new visualizations can be added or upgraded without impactingexisting KPIs or other aspects of the data model. While somevisualizations may still rely on the presence of particular KPIs in thedata model, it is up to the user to ensure that these KPIs are present.

In possible embodiments, users of the remote network management platformmay be presented with a list of installable dashboards that areconfigured as plugins to the remote network management platform. Eachdashboard may include one or more visualizations. Users may install adashboard as a whole, thus installing all of the visualizations therein,or the users may install individual visualizations. In order to allowusers control over the impact of these potential installations, theremote network management platform may indicate whether each dashboardand/or visualization is already installed, and/or whether installingdashboards or visualizations will overwrite previous installs orotherwise impact dashboards or visualizations. Thus, the user hascontrol over the extent to which the system is impacted by installationsor upgrades of visualizations.

Accordingly, a first example embodiment may involve one or moredatabases disposed within a remote network management platform. The oneor more databases may include a data model that represents configurationand operational characteristics of computing devices disposed within amanaged network. The managed network may be managed by the remotenetwork management platform. The configuration and operationalcharacteristics may include key performance indicators related to themanaged network. The first example embodiment may also include one ormore server devices disposed within the remote network managementplatform and configured to: receive, by way of a graphical userinterface displayed on a client device, a request to install or upgradea performance analytics dashboard displayable by the graphical userinterface, where the performance analytics dashboard defines a datavisualization related to a particular key performance indicator;determine that installing or upgrading the performance analyticsdashboard requires updating data within the data model; receive, by wayof the graphical user interface, permission to update the data withinthe data model; and in response to receiving permission to update thedata within the data model, updating the data within the data model theninstalling or upgrading the performance analytics dashboard. When thedata model includes a representation of the particular key performanceindicator, the data visualization is displayable on the graphical userinterface to represent the particular key performance indicator.

A second example embodiment may involve receiving, by one or more serverdevices and from a client device, a request to install or upgrade aperformance analytics dashboard of a graphical user interface displayedon the client device. The performance analytics dashboard may define adata visualization related to a particular key performance indicator.The one or more servers may be disposed within a remote networkmanagement platform and have access to a data model. The data model mayrepresent configuration and operational characteristics of computingdevices disposed within a managed network. The managed network may bemanaged by the remote network management platform. The configuration andoperational characteristics may include key performance indicators. Thesecond example embodiment may also involve determining, by the one ormore server devices, that installing or upgrading the performanceanalytics dashboard requires updating data within the data model. Thesecond example embodiment may also involve receiving, by the one or moreserver devices and by way of the graphical user interface, permission toupdate the data within the data model. The second example embodiment mayalso involve, possibly in response to receiving permission to update thedata within the data model, the one or more server devices updating thedata within the data model then installing or upgrading the performanceanalytics dashboard. When the data model includes a representation ofthe particular key performance indicator, the data visualization isdisplayable on the graphical user interface to represent the particularkey performance indicator.

In a third example embodiment, an article of manufacture may include anon-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon programinstructions that, upon execution by a computing system, cause thecomputing system to perform operations in accordance with the firstand/or second example embodiment.

In a fourth example embodiment, a computing system may include at leastone processor, as well as memory and program instructions. The programinstructions may be stored in the memory, and upon execution by the atleast one processor, cause the computing system to perform operations inaccordance with the first and/or second example embodiment.

In a fifth example embodiment, a system may include various means forcarrying out each of the operations of the first and/or second exampleembodiment.

These as well as other embodiments, aspects, advantages, andalternatives will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the artby reading the following detailed description, with reference whereappropriate to the accompanying drawings. Further, this summary andother descriptions and figures provided herein are intended toillustrate embodiments by way of example only and, as such, thatnumerous variations are possible. For instance, structural elements andprocess steps can be rearranged, combined, distributed, eliminated, orotherwise changed, while remaining within the scope of the embodimentsas claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic drawing of a computing device, inaccordance with example embodiments.

FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic drawing of a server device cluster, inaccordance with example embodiments.

FIG. 3 depicts a remote network management architecture, in accordancewith example embodiments.

FIG. 4 depicts a communication environment involving a remote networkmanagement architecture, in accordance with example embodiments.

FIG. 5A depicts another communication environment involving a remotenetwork management architecture, in accordance with example embodiments.

FIG. 5B is a flow chart, in accordance with example embodiments.

FIG. 6A depicts a dashboard, in accordance with example embodiments.

FIG. 6B depicts a dashboard, in accordance with example embodiments.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart, in accordance with example embodiments.

FIG. 8A depicts an organization of metadata that defines a dashboard, inaccordance with example embodiments.

FIG. 8B depicts a definition of a visualization, in accordance withexample embodiments.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart, in accordance with example embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Example methods, devices, and systems are described herein. It should beunderstood that the words “example” and “exemplary” are used herein tomean “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Any embodimentor feature described herein as being an “example” or “exemplary” is notnecessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over otherembodiments or features unless stated as such. Thus, other embodimentscan be utilized and other changes can be made without departing from thescope of the subject matter presented herein.

Accordingly, the example embodiments described herein are not meant tobe limiting. It will be readily understood that the aspects of thepresent disclosure, as generally described herein, and illustrated inthe figures, can be arranged, substituted, combined, separated, anddesigned in a wide variety of different configurations. For example, theseparation of features into “client” and “server” components may occurin a number of ways.

Further, unless context suggests otherwise, the features illustrated ineach of the figures may be used in combination with one another. Thus,the figures should be generally viewed as component aspects of one ormore overall embodiments, with the understanding that not allillustrated features are necessary for each embodiment.

Additionally, any enumeration of elements, blocks, or steps in thisspecification or the claims is for purposes of clarity. Thus, suchenumeration should not be interpreted to require or imply that theseelements, blocks, or steps adhere to a particular arrangement or arecarried out in a particular order.

I. INTRODUCTION

A large enterprise is a complex entity with many interrelatedoperations. Some of these are found across the enterprise, such as humanresources (HR), supply chain, information technology (IT), and finance.However, each enterprise also has its own unique operations that provideessential capabilities and/or create competitive advantages.

To support widely-implemented operations, enterprises typically useoff-the-shelf software applications, such as customer relationshipmanagement (CRM) and human capital management (HCM) packages. However,they may also need custom software applications to meet their own uniquerequirements. A large enterprise often has dozens or hundreds of thesecustom software applications. Nonetheless, the advantages provided bythe embodiments herein are not limited to large enterprises and may beapplicable to an enterprise, or any other type of organization, of anysize.

Many such software applications are developed by individual departmentswithin the enterprise. These range from simple spreadsheets tocustom-built software tools and databases. But the proliferation ofsiloed custom software applications has numerous disadvantages. Itnegatively impacts an enterprise's ability to run and grow its business,innovate, and meet regulatory requirements. The enterprise may find itdifficult to integrate, streamline and enhance its operations due tolack of a single system that unifies its subsystems and data.

To efficiently create custom applications, enterprises would benefitfrom a remotely-hosted application platform that eliminates unnecessarydevelopment complexity. The goal of such a platform would be to reducetime-consuming, repetitive application development tasks so thatsoftware engineers and individuals in other roles can focus ondeveloping unique, high-value features.

In order to achieve this goal, the concept of Application Platform as aService (aPaaS) is introduced, to intelligently automate workflowsthroughout the enterprise. An aPaaS system is hosted remotely from theenterprise, but may access data and services within the enterprise byway of secure connections. Such an aPaaS system may have a number ofadvantageous capabilities and characteristics. These advantages andcharacteristics may be able to improve the enterprise's operations andworkflow for IT, HR, CRM, customer service, application development, andsecurity.

The aPaaS system may support development and execution ofmodel-view-controller (MVC) applications. MVC applications divide theirfunctionality into three interconnected parts (model, view, andcontroller) in order to isolate representations of information from themanner in which the information is presented to the user, therebyallowing for efficient code reuse and parallel development. Theseapplications may be web-based, and offer create, read, update, delete(CRUD) capabilities. This allows new applications to be built on acommon application infrastructure.

The aPaaS system may support standardized application components, suchas a standardized set of widgets for graphical user interface (GUI)development. In this way, applications built using the aPaaS system havea common look and feel. Other software components and modules may bestandardized as well. In some cases, this look and feel can be brandedor skinned with an enterprise's custom logos and/or color schemes.

The aPaaS system may support the ability to configure the behavior ofapplications using metadata. This allows application behaviors to berapidly adapted to meet specific needs. Such an approach reducesdevelopment time and increases flexibility. Further, the aPaaS systemmay support GUI tools that facilitate metadata creation and management,thus reducing errors in the metadata.

The aPaaS system may support clearly-defined interfaces betweenapplications, so that software developers can avoid unwantedinter-application dependencies. Thus, the aPaaS system may implement aservice layer in which persistent state information and other data isstored.

The aPaaS system may support a rich set of integration features so thatthe applications thereon can interact with legacy applications andthird-party applications. For instance, the aPaaS system may support acustom employee-onboarding system that integrates with legacy HR, IT,and accounting systems.

The aPaaS system may support enterprise-grade security. Furthermore,since the aPaaS system may be remotely hosted, it should also utilizesecurity procedures when it interacts with systems in the enterprise orthird-party networks and services hosted outside of the enterprise. Forexample, the aPaaS system may be configured to share data amongst theenterprise and other parties to detect and identify common securitythreats.

Other features, functionality, and advantages of an aPaaS system mayexist. This description is for purpose of example and is not intended tobe limiting.

As an example of the aPaaS development process, a software developer maybe tasked to create a new application using the aPaaS system. First, thedeveloper may define the data model, which specifies the types of datathat the application uses and the relationships therebetween. Then, viaa GUI of the aPaaS system, the developer enters (e.g., uploads) the datamodel. The aPaaS system automatically creates all of the correspondingdatabase tables, fields, and relationships, which can then be accessedvia an object-oriented services layer.

In addition, the aPaaS system can also build a fully-functional MVCapplication with client-side interfaces and server-side CRUD logic. Thisgenerated application may serve as the basis of further development forthe user. Advantageously, the developer does not have to spend a largeamount of time on basic application functionality. Further, since theapplication may be web-based, it can be accessed from anyInternet-enabled client device. Alternatively or additionally, a localcopy of the application may be able to be accessed, for instance, whenInternet service is not available.

The aPaaS system may also support a rich set of pre-definedfunctionality that can be added to applications. These features includesupport for searching, email, templating, workflow design, reporting,analytics, social media, scripting, mobile-friendly output, andcustomized GUIs.

The following embodiments describe architectural and functional aspectsof example aPaaS systems, as well as the features and advantagesthereof.

II. EXAMPLE COMPUTING DEVICES AND CLOUD-BASED COMPUTING ENVIRONMENTS

FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram exemplifying a computing device100, illustrating some of the components that could be included in acomputing device arranged to operate in accordance with the embodimentsherein. Computing device 100 could be a client device (e.g., a deviceactively operated by a user), a server device (e.g., a device thatprovides computational services to client devices), or some other typeof computational platform. Some server devices may operate as clientdevices from time to time in order to perform particular operations.

In this example, computing device 100 includes processor(s) 102(referred to as “processor 102” for sake of simplicity), memory 104,network interface(s) 106, and an input/output unit 108, all of which maybe coupled by a system bus 110 or a similar mechanism. In someembodiments, computing device 100 may include other components and/orperipheral devices (e.g., detachable storage, printers, and so on).

Processor 102 may be any type of computer processing unit, such as acentral processing unit (CPU), a co-processor (e.g., a mathematics,graphics, or encryption co-processor), a digital signal processor (DSP),a network processor, and/or a form of integrated circuit or controllerthat performs processor operations. In some cases, processor 102 may bea single-core processor, and in other cases, processor 102 may be amulti-core processor with multiple independent processing units.Processor 102 may also include register memory for temporarily storinginstructions being executed and related data, as well as cache memoryfor temporarily storing recently-used instructions and data.

Memory 104 may be any form of computer-usable memory, including but notlimited to register memory and cache memory (which may be incorporatedinto processor 102), as well as random access memory (RAM), read-onlymemory (ROM), and non-volatile memory (e.g., flash memory, hard diskdrives, solid state drives, compact discs (CDs), digital video discs(DVDs), and/or tape storage). Other types of memory may includebiological memory.

Memory 104 may store program instructions and/or data on which programinstructions may operate. By way of example, memory 104 may store theseprogram instructions on a non-transitory, computer-readable medium, suchthat the instructions are executable by processor 102 to carry out anyof the methods, processes, or operations disclosed in this specificationor the accompanying drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, memory 104 may include firmware 104A, kernel 104B,and/or applications 104C. Firmware 104A may be program code used to bootor otherwise initiate some or all of computing device 100. Kernel 104Bmay be an operating system, including modules for memory management,scheduling and management of processes, input/output, and communication.Kernel 104B may also include device drivers that allow the operatingsystem to communicate with the hardware modules (e.g., memory units,networking interfaces, ports, and busses), of computing device 100.Applications 104C may be one or more user-space software programs, suchas web browsers or email clients, as well as any software libraries usedby these programs.

Network interface(s) 106 may take the form of a wireline interface, suchas Ethernet (e.g., Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet, and so on). Networkinterface(s) 106 may also support communication over non-Ethernet media,such as coaxial cables or power lines, or over wide-area media, such asSynchronous Optical Networking (SONET) or digital subscriber line (DSL)technologies. Network interface(s) 106 may also take the form of awireless interface, such as IEEE 802.11 (Wifi), BLUETOOTH®, globalpositioning system (GPS), or a wide-area wireless interface. However,other forms of physical layer interfaces and other types of standard orproprietary communication protocols may be used over networkinterface(s) 106. Furthermore, network interface(s) 106 may comprisemultiple physical interfaces. For instance, some embodiments ofcomputing device 100 may include Ethernet, BLUETOOTH®, and Wifiinterfaces.

Input/output unit 108 may facilitate user and peripheral deviceinteraction with example computing device 100. Input/output unit 108 mayinclude one or more types of input devices, such as a keyboard, a mouse,a touch screen, and so on. Similarly, input/output unit 108 may includeone or more types of output devices, such as a screen, monitor, printer,and/or one or more light emitting diodes (LEDs). Additionally oralternatively, computing device 100 may communicate with other devicesusing a universal serial bus (USB) or high-definition multimediainterface (HDMI) port interface, for example.

In some embodiments, one or more instances of computing device 100 maybe deployed to support an aPaaS architecture. The exact physicallocation, connectivity, and configuration of these computing devices maybe unknown and/or unimportant to client devices. Accordingly, thecomputing devices may be referred to as “cloud-based” devices that maybe housed at various remote data center locations.

FIG. 2 depicts a cloud-based server cluster 200 in accordance withexample embodiments. In FIG. 2, operations of a computing device (e.g.,computing device 100) may be distributed between server devices 202,data storage 204, and routers 206, all of which may be connected bylocal cluster network 208. The number of server devices 202, datastorages 204, and routers 206 in server cluster 200 may depend on thecomputing task(s) and/or applications assigned to server cluster 200.

For example, server devices 202 can be configured to perform variouscomputing tasks of computing device 100. Thus, computing tasks can bedistributed among one or more of server devices 202. To the extent thatthese computing tasks can be performed in parallel, such a distributionof tasks may reduce the total time to complete these tasks and return aresult. For purpose of simplicity, both server cluster 200 andindividual server devices 202 may be referred to as a “server device.”This nomenclature should be understood to imply that one or moredistinct server devices, data storage devices, and cluster routers maybe involved in server device operations.

Data storage 204 may be data storage arrays that include drive arraycontrollers configured to manage read and write access to groups of harddisk drives and/or solid state drives. The drive array controllers,alone or in conjunction with server devices 202, may also be configuredto manage backup or redundant copies of the data stored in data storage204 to protect against drive failures or other types of failures thatprevent one or more of server devices 202 from accessing units ofcluster data storage 204. Other types of memory aside from drives may beused.

Routers 206 may include networking equipment configured to provideinternal and external communications for server cluster 200. Forexample, routers 206 may include one or more packet-switching and/orrouting devices (including switches and/or gateways) configured toprovide (i) network communications between server devices 202 and datastorage 204 via cluster network 208, and/or (ii) network communicationsbetween the server cluster 200 and other devices via communication link210 to network 212.

Additionally, the configuration of cluster routers 206 can be based atleast in part on the data communication requirements of server devices202 and data storage 204, the latency and throughput of the localcluster network 208, the latency, throughput, and cost of communicationlink 210, and/or other factors that may contribute to the cost, speed,fault-tolerance, resiliency, efficiency and/or other design goals of thesystem architecture.

As a possible example, data storage 204 may include any form ofdatabase, such as a structured query language (SQL) database. Varioustypes of data structures may store the information in such a database,including but not limited to tables, arrays, lists, trees, and tuples.Furthermore, any databases in data storage 204 may be monolithic ordistributed across multiple physical devices.

Server devices 202 may be configured to transmit data to and receivedata from cluster data storage 204. This transmission and retrieval maytake the form of SQL queries or other types of database queries, and theoutput of such queries, respectively. Additional text, images, video,and/or audio may be included as well. Furthermore, server devices 202may organize the received data into web page representations. Such arepresentation may take the form of a markup language, such as thehypertext markup language (HTML), the extensible markup language (XML),or some other standardized or proprietary format. Moreover, serverdevices 202 may have the capability of executing various types ofcomputerized scripting languages, such as but not limited to Perl,Python, PHP Hypertext Preprocessor (PHP), Active Server Pages (ASP),JavaScript, and so on. Computer program code written in these languagesmay facilitate the providing of web pages to client devices, as well asclient device interaction with the web pages.

III. EXAMPLE REMOTE NETWORK MANAGEMENT ARCHITECTURE

FIG. 3 depicts a remote network management architecture, in accordancewith example embodiments. This architecture includes three maincomponents, managed network 300, remote network management platform 320,and third-party networks 340, all connected by way of Internet 350.

Managed network 300 may be, for example, an enterprise network used by abusiness for computing and communications tasks, as well as storage ofdata. Thus, managed network 300 may include various client devices 302,server devices 304, routers 306, virtual machines 308, firewall 310,and/or proxy servers 312. Client devices 302 may be embodied bycomputing device 100, server devices 304 may be embodied by computingdevice 100 or server cluster 200, and routers 306 may be any type ofrouter, switch, or gateway.

Virtual machines 308 may be embodied by one or more of computing device100 or server cluster 200. In general, a virtual machine is an emulationof a computing system, and mimics the functionality (e.g., processor,memory, and communication resources) of a physical computer. Onephysical computing system, such as server cluster 200, may support up tothousands of individual virtual machines. In some embodiments, virtualmachines 308 may be managed by a centralized server device orapplication that facilitates allocation of physical computing resourcesto individual virtual machines, as well as performance and errorreporting. Enterprises often employ virtual machines in order toallocate computing resources in an efficient, as needed fashion.Providers of virtualized computing systems include VMWARE® andMICROSOFT®.

Firewall 310 may be one or more specialized routers or server devicesthat protect managed network 300 from unauthorized attempts to accessthe devices and services therein, while allowing authorizedcommunication that is initiated from managed network 300. Firewall 310may also provide intrusion detection, web filtering, virus scanning,application-layer gateways, and other services. In some embodiments notshown in FIG. 3, managed network 300 may include one or more virtualprivate network (VPN) gateways with which it communicates with remotenetwork management platform 320 (see below).

Managed network 300 may also include one or more proxy servers 312. Anembodiment of proxy servers 312 may be a server device that facilitatescommunication and movement of data between managed network 300, remotenetwork management platform 320, and third-party networks 340. Inparticular, proxy servers 312 may be able to establish and maintainsecure communication sessions with one or more customer instances ofremote network management platform 320. By way of such a session, remotenetwork management platform 320 may be able to discover and manageaspects of the architecture and configuration of managed network 300 andits components. Possibly with the assistance of proxy servers 312,remote network management platform 320 may also be able to discover andmanage aspects of third-party networks 340 that are used by managednetwork 300.

Firewalls, such as firewall 310, typically deny all communicationsessions that are incoming by way of Internet 350, unless such a sessionwas ultimately initiated from behind the firewall (i.e., from a deviceon managed network 300) or the firewall has been explicitly configuredto support the session. By placing proxy servers 312 behind firewall 310(e.g., within managed network 300 and protected by firewall 310), proxyservers 312 may be able to initiate these communication sessions throughfirewall 310. Thus, firewall 310 might not have to be specificallyconfigured to support incoming sessions from remote network managementplatform 320, thereby avoiding potential security risks to managednetwork 300.

In some cases, managed network 300 may consist of a few devices and asmall number of networks. In other deployments, managed network 300 mayspan multiple physical locations and include hundreds of networks andhundreds of thousands of devices. Thus, the architecture depicted inFIG. 3 is capable of scaling up or down by orders of magnitude.

Furthermore, depending on the size, architecture, and connectivity ofmanaged network 300, a varying number of proxy servers 312 may bedeployed therein. For example, each one of proxy servers 312 may beresponsible for communicating with remote network management platform320 regarding a portion of managed network 300. Alternatively oradditionally, sets of two or more proxy servers may be assigned to sucha portion of managed network 300 for purposes of load balancing,redundancy, and/or high availability.

Remote network management platform 320 is a hosted environment thatprovides aPaaS services to users, particularly to the operators ofmanaged network 300. These services may take the form of web-basedportals, for instance. Thus, a user can securely access remote networkmanagement platform 320 from, for instance, client devices 302, orpotentially from a client device outside of managed network 300. By wayof the web-based portals, users may design, test, and deployapplications, generate reports, view analytics, and perform other tasks.

As shown in FIG. 3, remote network management platform 320 includes fourcustomer instances 322, 324, 326, and 328. Each of these instances mayrepresent a set of web portals, services, and applications (e.g., awholly-functioning aPaaS system) available to a particular customer. Insome cases, a single customer may use multiple customer instances. Forexample, managed network 300 may be an enterprise customer of remotenetwork management platform 320, and may use customer instances 322,324, and 326. The reason for providing multiple instances to onecustomer is that the customer may wish to independently develop, test,and deploy its applications and services. Thus, customer instance 322may be dedicated to application development related to managed network300, customer instance 324 may be dedicated to testing theseapplications, and customer instance 326 may be dedicated to the liveoperation of tested applications and services.

The multi-instance architecture of remote network management platform320 is in contrast to conventional multi-tenant architectures, overwhich multi-instance architectures have several advantages. Inmulti-tenant architectures, data from different customers (e.g.,enterprises) are comingled in a single database. While these customers'data are separate from one another, the separation is enforced by thesoftware that operates the single database. As a consequence, a securitybreach in this system may impact all customers' data, creatingadditional risk, especially for entities subject to governmental,healthcare, and/or financial regulation. Furthermore, any databaseoperations that impact one customer will likely impact all customerssharing that database. Thus, if there is an outage due to hardware orsoftware errors, this outage affects all such customers. Likewise, ifthe database is to be upgraded to meet the needs of one customer, itwill be unavailable to all customers during the upgrade process. Often,such maintenance windows will be long, due to the size of the shareddatabase

In contrast, the multi-instance architecture provides each customer withits own database in a dedicated computing instance. This preventscomingling of customer data, and allows each instance to beindependently managed. For example, when one customer's instanceexperiences an outage due to errors or an upgrade, other customerinstances are not impacted. Maintenance down time is limited because thedatabase only contains one customer's data. Further, the simpler designof the multi-instance architecture allows redundant copies of eachcustomer database and instance to be deployed in a geographicallydiverse fashion. This facilitates high availability, where the liveversion of the customer's instance can be moved when faults are detectedor maintenance is being performed.

In order to support multiple customer instances in an efficient fashion,remote network management platform 320 may implement a plurality ofthese instances on a single hardware platform. For example, when theaPaaS system is implemented on a server cluster such as server cluster200, it may operate a virtual machine that dedicates varying amounts ofcomputational, storage, and communication resources to instances. Butfull virtualization of server cluster 200 might not be necessary, andother mechanisms may be used to separate instances. In some examples,each instance may have a dedicated account and one or more dedicateddatabases on server cluster 200. Alternatively, customer instance 322may span multiple physical devices.

In some cases, a single server cluster of remote network managementplatform 320 may support multiple independent enterprises. Furthermore,as described below, remote network management platform 320 may includemultiple server clusters deployed in geographically diverse data centersin order to facilitate load balancing, redundancy, and/or highavailability.

Third-party networks 340 may be remote server devices (e.g., a pluralityof server clusters such as server cluster 200) that can be used foroutsourced computational, data storage, communication, and servicehosting operations. These servers may be virtualized (i.e., the serversmay be virtual machines). Examples of third-party networks 340 mayinclude AMAZON WEB SERVICES® and MICROSOFT® Azure. Like remote networkmanagement platform 320, multiple server clusters supporting third-partynetworks 340 may be deployed at geographically diverse locations forpurposes of load balancing, redundancy, and/or high availability.

Managed network 300 may use one or more of third-party networks 340 todeploy services to its clients and customers. For instance, if managednetwork 300 provides online music streaming services, third-partynetworks 340 may store the music files and provide web interface andstreaming capabilities. In this way, the enterprise of managed network300 does not have to build and maintain its own servers for theseoperations.

Remote network management platform 320 may include modules thatintegrate with third-party networks 340 to expose virtual machines andmanaged services therein to managed network 300. The modules may allowusers to request virtual resources and provide flexible reporting forthird-party networks 340. In order to establish this functionality, auser from managed network 300 might first establish an account withthird-party networks 340, and request a set of associated resources.Then, the user may enter the account information into the appropriatemodules of remote network management platform 320. These modules maythen automatically discover the manageable resources in the account, andalso provide reports related to usage, performance, and billing.

Internet 350 may represent a portion of the global Internet. However,Internet 350 may alternatively represent a different type of network,such as a private wide-area or local-area packet-switched network.

FIG. 4 further illustrates the communication environment between managednetwork 300 and customer instance 322, and introduces additionalfeatures and alternative embodiments. In FIG. 4, customer instance 322is replicated across data centers 400A and 400B. These data centers maybe geographically distant from one another, perhaps in different citiesor different countries. Each data center includes support equipment thatfacilitates communication with managed network 300, as well as remoteusers.

In data center 400A, network traffic to and from external devices flowseither through VPN gateway 402A or firewall 404A. VPN gateway 402A maybe peered with VPN gateway 412 of managed network 300 by way of asecurity protocol such as Internet Protocol Security (IPSEC). Firewall404A may be configured to allow access from authorized users, such asuser 414 and remote user 416, and to deny access to unauthorized users.By way of firewall 404A, these users may access customer instance 322,and possibly other customer instances. Load balancer 406A may be used todistribute traffic amongst one or more physical or virtual serverdevices that host customer instance 322. Load balancer 406A may simplifyuser access by hiding the internal configuration of data center 400A,(e.g., customer instance 322) from client devices. For instance, ifcustomer instance 322 includes multiple physical or virtual computingdevices that share access to multiple databases, load balancer 406A maydistribute network traffic and processing tasks across these computingdevices and databases so that no one computing device or database issignificantly busier than the others. In some embodiments, customerinstance 322 may include VPN gateway 402A, firewall 404A, and loadbalancer 406A.

Data center 400B may include its own versions of the components in datacenter 400A. Thus, VPN gateway 402B, firewall 404B, and load balancer406B may perform the same or similar operations as VPN gateway 402A,firewall 404A, and load balancer 406A, respectively. Further, by way ofreal-time or near-real-time database replication and/or otheroperations, customer instance 322 may exist simultaneously in datacenters 400A and 400B.

Data centers 400A and 400B as shown in FIG. 4 may facilitate redundancyand high availability. In the configuration of FIG. 4, data center 400Ais active and data center 400B is passive. Thus, data center 400A isserving all traffic to and from managed network 300, while the versionof customer instance 322 in data center 400B is being updated innear-real-time. Other configurations, such as one in which both datacenters are active, may be supported.

Should data center 400A fail in some fashion or otherwise becomeunavailable to users, data center 400B can take over as the active datacenter. For example, domain name system (DNS) servers that associate adomain name of customer instance 322 with one or more Internet Protocol(IP) addresses of data center 400A may re-associate the domain name withone or more IP addresses of data center 400B. After this re-associationcompletes (which may take less than one second or several seconds),users may access customer instance 322 by way of data center 400B.

FIG. 4 also illustrates a possible configuration of managed network 300.As noted above, proxy servers 312 and user 414 may access customerinstance 322 through firewall 310. Proxy servers 312 may also accessconfiguration items 410. In FIG. 4, configuration items 410 may refer toany or all of client devices 302, server devices 304, routers 306, andvirtual machines 308, any applications, programs, or services executingthereon, as well as relationships between devices and services. Thus,the term “configuration items” may be shorthand for any physical orvirtual device or service remotely discoverable or managed by customerinstance 322, or relationships between discovered devices and services.Configuration items may be represented in a configuration managementdatabase (CMDB) of customer instance 322.

As noted above, VPN gateway 412 may provide a dedicated VPN to VPNgateway 402A. Such a VPN may be helpful when there is a significantamount of traffic between managed network 300 and customer instance 322,or security policies otherwise suggest or require use of a VPN betweenthese sites. In some embodiments, any device in managed network 300and/or customer instance 322 that directly communicates via the VPN isassigned a public IP address. Other devices in managed network 300and/or customer instance 322 may be assigned private IP addresses (e.g.,IP addresses selected from the 10.0.0.0-10.255.255.255 or192.168.0.0-192.168.255.255 ranges, represented in shorthand as subnets10.0.0.0/8 and 192.168.0.0/16, respectively).

IV. EXAMPLE DEVICE AND SERVICE DISCOVERY

In order for remote network management platform 320 to administer thedevices and services of managed network 300, remote network managementplatform 320 may first determine what devices are present in managednetwork 300, the configurations and operational statuses of thesedevices, and the services provided by the devices, and well as therelationships between discovered devices and services. As noted above,each device, service, and relationship may be referred to as aconfiguration item. The process of defining configuration items withinmanaged network 300 is referred to as discovery, and may be facilitatedat least in part by proxy servers 312.

For purpose of the embodiments herein, a “service” may refer to aprocess, thread, application, program, server, or any other softwarethat executes on a device. A “service” may also refer to a high-levelcapability provided by multiple processes, threads, applications,programs, and/or servers on one or more devices working in conjunctionwith one another. For example, a high-level web service may involvemultiple web application server threads executing on one device andaccessing information from a database service that executes on anotherdevice. The distinction between different types or levels of servicesmay depend upon the context in which they are presented.

FIG. 5A provides a logical depiction of how configuration items can bediscovered, as well as how information related to discoveredconfiguration items can be stored. For sake of simplicity, remotenetwork management platform 320, third-party networks 340, and Internet350 are not shown.

In FIG. 5A, CMDB 500 and task list 502 are stored within customerinstance 322. Customer instance 322 may transmit discovery commands toproxy servers 312. In response, proxy servers 312 may transmit probes tovarious devices and services in managed network 300. These devices andservices may transmit responses to proxy servers 312, and proxy servers312 may then provide information regarding discovered configurationitems to CMDB 500 for storage therein. Configuration items stored inCMDB 500 represent the environment of managed network 300.

Task list 502 represents a list of activities that proxy servers 312 areto perform on behalf of customer instance 322. As discovery takes place,task list 502 is populated. Proxy servers 312 repeatedly query task list502, obtain the next task therein, and perform this task until task list502 is empty or another stopping condition has been reached.

To facilitate discovery, proxy servers 312 may be configured withinformation regarding one or more subnets in managed network 300 thatare reachable by way of proxy servers 312. For instance, proxy servers312 may be given the IP address range 192.168.0/24 as a subnet. Then,customer instance 322 may store this information in CMDB 500 and placetasks in task list 502 for discovery of devices at each of theseaddresses.

FIG. 5A also depicts devices and services in managed network 300 asconfiguration items 504, 506, 508, 510, and 512. As noted above, theseconfiguration items represent a set of physical and/or virtual devices(e.g., client devices, server devices, routers, or virtual machines),services executing thereon (e.g., web servers, email servers, databases,or storage arrays), relationships therebetween, as well as higher-levelservices that involve multiple individual configuration items.

Placing the tasks in task list 502 may trigger or otherwise cause proxyservers 312 to begin discovery. Alternatively or additionally, discoverymay be manually triggered or automatically triggered based on triggeringevents (e.g., discovery may automatically begin once per day at aparticular time).

In general, discovery may proceed in four logical phases: scanning,classification, identification, and exploration. Each phase of discoveryinvolves various types of probe messages being transmitted by proxyservers 312 to one or more devices in managed network 300. The responsesto these probes may be received and processed by proxy servers 312, andrepresentations thereof may be transmitted to CMDB 500. Thus, each phasecan result in more configuration items being discovered and stored inCMDB 500.

In the scanning phase, proxy servers 312 may probe each IP address inthe specified range of IP addresses for open Transmission ControlProtocol (TCP) and/or User Datagram Protocol (UDP) ports to determinethe general type of device. The presence of such open ports at an IPaddress may indicate that a particular application is operating on thedevice that is assigned the IP address, which in turn may identify theoperating system used by the device. For example, if TCP port 135 isopen, then the device is likely executing a WINDOWS® operating system.Similarly, if TCP port 22 is open, then the device is likely executing aUNIX® operating system, such as LINUX®. If UDP port 161 is open, thenthe device may be able to be further identified through the SimpleNetwork Management Protocol (SNMP). Other possibilities exist. Once thepresence of a device at a particular IP address and its open ports havebeen discovered, these configuration items are saved in CMDB 500.

In the classification phase, proxy servers 312 may further probe eachdiscovered device to determine the version of its operating system. Theprobes used for a particular device are based on information gatheredabout the devices during the scanning phase. For example, if a device isfound with TCP port 22 open, a set of UNIX®-specific probes may be used.Likewise, if a device is found with TCP port 135 open, a set ofWINDOWS®-specific probes may be used. For either case, an appropriateset of tasks may be placed in task list 502 for proxy servers 312 tocarry out. These tasks may result in proxy servers 312 logging on, orotherwise accessing information from the particular device. Forinstance, if TCP port 22 is open, proxy servers 312 may be instructed toinitiate a Secure Shell (SSH) connection to the particular device andobtain information about the operating system thereon from particularlocations in the file system. Based on this information, the operatingsystem may be determined. As an example, a UNIX® device with TCP port 22open may be classified as AIX®, HPUX, LINUX®, MACOS®, or SOLARIS®. Thisclassification information may be stored as one or more configurationitems in CMDB 500.

In the identification phase, proxy servers 312 may determine specificdetails about a classified device. The probes used during this phase maybe based on information gathered about the particular devices during theclassification phase. For example, if a device was classified as LINUX®,as a set of LINUX®-specific probes may be used. Likewise if a device wasclassified as WINDOWS® 2012, as a set of WINDOWS®-2012-specific probesmay be used. As was the case for the classification phase, anappropriate set of tasks may be placed in task list 502 for proxyservers 312 to carry out. These tasks may result in proxy servers 312reading information from the particular device, such as basicinput/output system (BIOS) information, serial numbers, networkinterface information, media access control address(es) assigned tothese network interface(s), IP address(es) used by the particular deviceand so on. This identification information may be stored as one or moreconfiguration items in CMDB 500.

In the exploration phase, proxy servers 312 may determine furtherdetails about the operational state of a classified device. The probesused during this phase may be based on information gathered about theparticular devices during the classification phase and/or theidentification phase. Again, an appropriate set of tasks may be placedin task list 502 for proxy servers 312 to carry out. These tasks mayresult in proxy servers 312 reading additional information from theparticular device, such as processor information, memory information,lists of running processes (services), and so on. Once more, thediscovered information may be stored as one or more configuration itemsin CMDB 500.

Running discovery on a network device, such as a router, may utilizeSNMP. Instead of or in addition to determining a list of runningprocesses or other application-related information, discovery maydetermine additional subnets known to the router and the operationalstate of the router's network interfaces (e.g., active, inactive, queuelength, number of packets dropped, etc.). The IP addresses of theadditional subnets may be candidates for further discovery procedures.Thus, discovery may progress iteratively or recursively.

Once discovery completes, a snapshot representation of each discovereddevice and service is available in CMDB 500. For example, afterdiscovery, operating system version, hardware configuration and networkconfiguration details for client devices, server devices, and routers inmanaged network 300, as well as services executing thereon, may bestored. This collected information may be presented to a user in variousways to allow the user to view the hardware composition and operationalstatus of devices, as well as the characteristics of services.

Furthermore, CMDB 500 may include entries regarding dependencies andrelationships between configuration items. More specifically, anapplication that is executing on a particular server device, as well asthe services that rely on this application, may be represented as suchin CMDB 500. For instance, suppose that a database application isexecuting on a server device, and that this database application is usedby a new employee onboarding service as well as a payroll service. Thus,if the server device is taken out of operation for maintenance, it isclear that the employee onboarding service and payroll service will beimpacted. Likewise, the dependencies and relationships betweenconfiguration items may be able to represent the services impacted whena particular router fails.

In general, dependencies and relationships between configuration itemsbe displayed on a web-based interface and represented in a hierarchicalfashion. Thus, adding, changing, or removing such dependencies andrelationships may be accomplished by way of this interface.

Furthermore, users from managed network 300 may develop workflows thatallow certain coordinated activities to take place across multiplediscovered devices. For instance, an IT workflow might allow the user tochange the common administrator password to all discovered LINUX®devices in single operation.

In order for discovery to take place in the manner described above,proxy servers 312, CMDB 500, and/or one or more credential stores may beconfigured with credentials for one or more of the devices to bediscovered. Credentials may include any type of information needed inorder to access the devices. These may include userid/password pairs,certificates, and so on. In some embodiments, these credentials may bestored in encrypted fields of CMDB 500. Proxy servers 312 may containthe decryption key for the credentials so that proxy servers 312 can usethese credentials to log on to or otherwise access devices beingdiscovered.

The discovery process is depicted as a flow chart in FIG. 5B. At block520, the task list in the customer instance is populated, for instance,with a range of IP addresses. At block 522, the scanning phase takesplace. Thus, the proxy servers probe the IP addresses for devices usingthese IP addresses, and attempt to determine the operating systems thatare executing on these devices. At block 524, the classification phasetakes place. The proxy servers attempt to determine the operating systemversion of the discovered devices. At block 526, the identificationphase takes place. The proxy servers attempt to determine the hardwareand/or software configuration of the discovered devices. At block 528,the exploration phase takes place. The proxy servers attempt todetermine the operational state and services executing on the discovereddevices. At block 530, further editing of the configuration itemsrepresenting the discovered devices and services may take place. Thisediting may be automated and/or manual in nature.

The blocks represented in FIG. 5B are for purpose of example. Discoverymay be a highly configurable procedure that can have more or fewerphases, and the operations of each phase may vary. In some cases, one ormore phases may be customized, or may otherwise deviate from theexemplary descriptions above.

V. VISUALIZATIONS

As described herein, a visualization may take various forms. Types ofvisualizations include time series, lists, charts, graphs, speedometers,dials, and so on. These visualizations may appear on one or more tabs ofa GUI dashboard.

The term “dashboard” may refer a GUI component that contains one or moretabs. Dashboards may also be referred to as “performance analyticsdashboards.” In some embodiments, a dashboard may be equivalent to orcontained within a GUI window. Tabs may be graphical control elementsthat allow multiple documents or panels to be contained within a singledashboard. Tabs may be used to switch between such documents or panels.

Each tab of a dashboard may include one or more visualizations. Avisualization may be a graphical and/or text-based representation of oneor more KPIs. For purpose of simplicity, the term “visualization” asused herein may refer to one or more of such representations, one ormore tabs, and/or one or more dashboards. Visualizations may also bereferred to as “data visualizations.”

Example dashboards are shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B. Dashboard 600 of FIG.6A includes multiple tabs 602, such as an “Incident KPIs” tab, a “Tieranalysis” tab, and so on. The “Incident KPIs” tab is displayed, andincludes a visualization in the form of a bar chart 604, “Open incidentsby age”. Bar chart 604 plots, for each day of an approximatelythree-month time period, the total number of open incidents for the ageranges of 0-1 days, 1-5 days, 6-30 days, 31-90 days, and over 90 days.

These incidents may be, for example, trouble tickets or help requestsopened with an IT organization. Each incident may therefore involve aparticular problem that a user has experienced, such as a computercrashing, a user being unable to log on to a service, slow performanceof a service, a request for new equipment, and so on. The ITorganization may tracks its performance by measuring how long it takesto resolve the incidents. For example, bar chart 604 suggests that therewere fewer open incidents near the end of the time frame than at themiddle of the time frame, but that the incidents near the end of thetime frame had remained open for a longer duration.

Dashboard 600 may also include section 606, which includesvisualizations for the extent of the open incident backlog (in thiscase, there are 422 open incidents currently), the first call resolutionrate (in this case, 83.6%), and a seven-day running average of the meantime for an incident to be resolved (in this case, 3.08 days). Thislatter KPI may also be referred to mean time to resolution, or MTTR.

Dashboard 608 of FIG. 6B shows different example visualizations relatedto open incidents. This dashboard contains the same tabs 602, butincludes charts 610 and 612. Chart 610 plots, for the same time frame ofthe visualization in FIG. 6A, open incidents against the average age ofthese open incidents on a dual y-axis graph. Chart 612 also plots openincidents, but includes representations of the age distribution of theseincidents.

Dashboards 600 and 608 also include various selectors, such as drop downmenus that allow the user to view these KPIs in different ways.Regardless of their exact mechanisms, these dashboards allow the user torapidly determine the status of the organization's incident responseKPIs through the use of visualizations that combine these KPIs.

The data displayed in bar chart 604, section 606, chart 610, and chart612 may be visualizations defined by a data model. Thus, valuesassociated with these visualizations may be stored in a databaseaccording to that data model, such as CMDB 500. These values may also beidentified as representing one or more KPIs, and each KPI may berepresented as one or more tables in the data model. As demonstrated inFIGS. 6A and 6B, multiple visualizations may use the same KPIs toprovide different views of the represented data.

As noted previously, adding new visualizations or upgrading existingvisualizations may require updating data within the data model as well.For instance, an upgraded visualization may change how one or more KPIsare presented versus the previous version of the visualization. Usersmay view such changes as disruptive and undesirable when their goal ismerely to keep the software of their customer instance up to date.Notably, if the visualization is upgraded, the users may becomefrustrated when customizations that they made to a previous version ofthe visualization are no longer available.

A. Installing and Upgrading Visualizations

The embodiments herein introduce a way to add or upgrade one or morevisualizations. Particularly, a user may browse, by way of a web-basedinterface, a list of dashboards. The user may select one or more ofthese dashboards, or one or more of the visualizations therein, forinstallation or upgrade. If a selected dashboard or visualization is notalready installed in the customer instance, the dashboard orvisualization may be installed. However, if the selected dashboard orvisualization is already installed, the user may be prompted to decidewhether to continue with the upgrade. For example, the user may bewarned that continuing with the upgrade may impact behavior, appearance,and/or look and feel of the dashboard. In this way, the user has controlover whether a larger-scale update takes place.

An example of this procedure is illustrated by FIG. 7. At block 700, theuser browses one or more dashboards and/or visualizations. The user maydo so by way of a web-based interface hosted by a customer instance. Thecustomer instance may be configured to remotely manage a managed networkwith which the user is associated. The web-based interface may provide aselectable list of dashboards. When a particular dashboard is selected,the web-based interface may display a list of tabs included in theparticular dashboard, and possibly a list of visualizations provided bythese tabs.

At block 702, the user may select one or more dashboards forinstallation. This selection may take place, for example, by way of oneor more checkboxes or similar functionality on a GUI.

At block 704, the customer instance determines whether a selecteddashboard is already installed in the customer instance. For instance,each dashboard may be associated with a unique name or number, and thisname or number may be registered with the customer instance when thedashboard is installed. Thus, the user selects a dashboard forinstallation, the customer instance may check whether a dashboard withthis name or number is already registered therein.

If the dashboard is not already installed, then, at block 706, theselected dashboard may be installed. This may involve loading an XML orJavaScript Object Notation (JSON) representation of the dashboard intothe customer instance. As will be discussed below, such a representationdefines the visualization and the KPI(s) that it presents.

However, if the dashboard is already installed, at block 708, the usermay be prompted to provide permission to overwrite the existingdashboard. For example, the customer instance may cause a popup windowto be displayed on the user's client device with a message such as “Areyou sure that you want to install this dashboard? Doing so will overridethe existing installation and customizations that you have made mightnot be preserved.”

If the user grants permission for the upgrade, then at block 706, theselected dashboard may be upgraded. If the user does not grantpermission for the upgrade, then at block 710, the installation may becancelled.

B. Representations of Visualizations

In order to separate installation and/or upgrading of visualizationsfrom the data model and software of the customer instance,visualizations may be represented using metadata. This metadata, whichmay be in XML or JSON format for instance, may define a dashboard, itstabs, and their constituent visualizations. Prior to installing orupgrading a dashboard, a user may be able to view or modify thismetadata. In some cases, only certain types of users can modify themetadata. For instance, privileged users or users associated with theremote network management platform may be able to make suchmodifications, whereas non-privileged users or users associated with themanaged network might not be able to make such modifications.

FIG. 8 provides an example structure for metadata. Content pack 800 mayrepresent a dashboard. Content metadata 802 may represent data relatedto one or more visualizations. For instance, content metadata 802 maydefine user permissions with respect to use or upgrading of avisualization, and the graphical layout of the visualization. Installedcontent 804 may represent a time at which a particular visualization ofa dashboard was installed. Each instance of content pack 800 may beassociated with multiple instances of content metadata 802 and multipleinstances of installed content 804. Further, each of content pack 800,content metadata 802, and installed content 804 may be tables in a datamodel of a customer instance.

Content pack 800 may include the following elements. In someembodiments, more or fewer elements may be present. The name element maybe an alphanumeric string that represents a name of the dashboard. Thecontent_update element may be a date and/or time that represents whenthe dashboard was most recently updated. The description element may bea character string that describes the dashboard. The installed elementmay be a Boolean value that indicates whether the dashboard is installedin the customer instance. The installed_at element may be a date and/ortime that represents when the dashboard was installed. The lockedelement may be a Boolean value that indicates whether the dashboard islocked. The plugin element may be one or more references additionalplugin content (not shown) that is associated with KPIs used by thedashboards.

Content metadata 802 may include the following elements. In someembodiments, more or fewer elements may be present. The name element maybe a character string that represents a name of the visualization. Thecontent_pack element may be a reference to an instance of content_pack800. Particularly, each instance of content metadata 802 may represent avisualization, and may refer to an instance of content pack 800 thatdefines the dashboard to which the visualization belongs. Thecontent_update element may be a date and/or time that represents whenthe visualization was most recently updated. The metadata element mayrefer to one or more XML files that define the visualization (here, XMLis used as just one example of how a visualization can be defined—JSONor other formats could be used instead). The type element may refer tothe type of the visualization (e.g., a time series, list, chart, graph,speedometer, dial, etc.). The update_available element may be a Booleanvalue that indicates whether an update to the visualization isavailable.

Installed content 804 may include the following elements. In someembodiments, more or fewer elements may be present. The metadata elementmay be a reference to an instance of content metadata 802. Theinstalled_at element may be a date and/or time that represents when thevisualization referred to by the metadata element was installed. Thecontent_pack element may be a reference to an instance of content_pack800.

The metadata may be viewable and/or editable by way of a graphical userinterface. Therefore, a user may be able to review and/or modify adashboard's metadata prior to or after installing the dashboard.Furthermore, the user may be able to export the metadata to a local fileon the user's client device or import the metadata from such a localfile to a customer instance. Consistent with previous discussions, onlycertain types of users might be able to modify, import, or export themetadata.

In this manner, users can customize existing visualizations or createnew visualizations. Users may also be able to share this metadata withother users. Thus, visualizations can rapidly be adapted to supportvarious KPIs.

FIG. 8B depicts example visualization code 806 in XML format. This XMLrepresentation roughly corresponds to a metadata entry in a contentmetadata 802 table, for instance. Notably, visualization code 806includes markup elements that define the appearance of a visualization.These elements specify that the visualization includes a chart, the typeof chart, the format of the columns, the color scheme of thevisualization, the labeling of the axes, and so on. In particular,visualization code 806 includes the markup element “indicator”, whichspecifies a KPI that the visualization uses. This KPI is referred to asan alphanumeric string, “9f3dac02d7231100b96d45a3ce610326”.

VI. EXAMPLE OPERATIONS

FIG. 9 is a flow chart illustrating an example embodiment. The processillustrated by FIG. 9 may be carried out by a computing device, such ascomputing device 100, and/or a cluster of computing devices, such asserver cluster 200. However, the process can be carried out by othertypes of devices or device subsystems. For example, the process could becarried out by a portable computer, such as a laptop or a tablet device.

The embodiments of FIG. 9 may be simplified by the removal of any one ormore of the features shown therein. Further, these embodiments may becombined with features, aspects, and/or implementations of any of theprevious figures or otherwise described herein.

In accordance with these embodiments, one or more databases may bedisposed within a remote network management platform. The one or moredatabases may include a data model that represents configuration andoperational characteristics of computing devices disposed within amanaged network. The managed network may be managed by the remotenetwork management platform. The configuration and operationalcharacteristics may include KPIs related to the managed network.Additionally, one or more server devices may be disposed within theremote network management platform. These servers may be configured tocarry out the following operations.

Block 900 may involve receiving, by way of a graphical user interfacedisplayed on a client device, a request to install or upgrade aperformance analytics dashboard displayable by the graphical userinterface. The performance analytics dashboard may define a datavisualization related to a particular KPI. In some embodiments, the datavisualization is one of a time series, a list, a chart, a graph, aspeedometer, or a dial that represents the particular KPI.

Block 902 may involve determining that installing or upgrading theperformance analytics dashboard requires updating data within the datamodel. Block 904 may involve receiving, by way of the graphical userinterface, permission to update the data within the data model.

Block 906 may involve, possibly in response to receiving permission toupdate the data within the data model, updating the data within the datamodel then installing or upgrading the performance analytics dashboard.When the data model includes a representation of the particular KPI, thedata visualization is displayable on the graphical user interface torepresent the particular KPI.

In some embodiments, the performance analytics dashboard may define thedata visualization in the XML, or JSON formats. The XML, or JSONdefinitions may be stored in the one or more databases. The one or moreserver devices may also provide, by way of the graphical user interface,an editable representation of the XML or JSON definitions. Alternativelyor additionally, the one or more server devices may export, by way ofthe graphical user interface, a representation of the XML or JSONdefinitions to a file stored on the client device. Alternatively oradditionally, the one or more server devices may import, by way of thegraphical user interface, a representation of the XML or JSONdefinitions from a file stored on the client device.

In some embodiments, the one or more server devices may provide, by wayof the graphical user interface, a list of available performanceanalytics dashboards. The performance analytics dashboard may be one ofthe available performance analytics dashboards, and the request toinstall or upgrade the performance analytics dashboard may be receivedas a selection from the list.

In some embodiments, when the data model does not include therepresentation of the particular KPI, the visualization is displayableon the graphical user interface to represent an error condition.

In some embodiments, the one or more server devices may, in response todetermining that installing or upgrading the performance analyticsdashboard requires updating the data within the data model, query, byway of the graphical user interface, for permission to update the datawithin the data model.

In some embodiments, the one or more server devices may provide, by wayof the graphical user interface, a graphical representation of the datavisualization. Providing the graphical representation of the datavisualization may cause a display unit of the client device to displaythe graphical representation of the data visualization.

VII. CONCLUSION

The present disclosure is not to be limited in terms of the particularembodiments described in this application, which are intended asillustrations of various aspects. Many modifications and variations canbe made without departing from its scope, as will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art. Functionally equivalent methods and apparatuseswithin the scope of the disclosure, in addition to those describedherein, will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the foregoingdescriptions. Such modifications and variations are intended to fallwithin the scope of the appended claims.

The above detailed description describes various features and operationsof the disclosed systems, devices, and methods with reference to theaccompanying figures. The example embodiments described herein and inthe figures are not meant to be limiting. Other embodiments can beutilized, and other changes can be made, without departing from thescope of the subject matter presented herein. It will be readilyunderstood that the aspects of the present disclosure, as generallydescribed herein, and illustrated in the figures, can be arranged,substituted, combined, separated, and designed in a wide variety ofdifferent configurations.

With respect to any or all of the message flow diagrams, scenarios, andflow charts in the figures and as discussed herein, each step, block,and/or communication can represent a processing of information and/or atransmission of information in accordance with example embodiments.Alternative embodiments are included within the scope of these exampleembodiments. In these alternative embodiments, for example, operationsdescribed as steps, blocks, transmissions, communications, requests,responses, and/or messages can be executed out of order from that shownor discussed, including substantially concurrently or in reverse order,depending on the functionality involved. Further, more or fewer blocksand/or operations can be used with any of the message flow diagrams,scenarios, and flow charts discussed herein, and these message flowdiagrams, scenarios, and flow charts can be combined with one another,in part or in whole.

A step or block that represents a processing of information cancorrespond to circuitry that can be configured to perform the specificlogical functions of a herein-described method or technique.Alternatively or additionally, a step or block that represents aprocessing of information can correspond to a module, a segment, or aportion of program code (including related data). The program code caninclude one or more instructions executable by a processor forimplementing specific logical operations or actions in the method ortechnique. The program code and/or related data can be stored on anytype of computer readable medium such as a storage device including RAM,a disk drive, a solid state drive, or another storage medium.

The computer readable medium can also include non-transitory computerreadable media such as computer readable media that store data for shortperiods of time like register memory and processor cache. The computerreadable media can further include non-transitory computer readablemedia that store program code and/or data for longer periods of time.Thus, the computer readable media may include secondary or persistentlong term storage, like ROM, optical or magnetic disks, solid statedrives, compact-disc read only memory (CD-ROM), for example. Thecomputer readable media can also be any other volatile or non-volatilestorage systems. A computer readable medium can be considered a computerreadable storage medium, for example, or a tangible storage device.

Moreover, a step or block that represents one or more informationtransmissions can correspond to information transmissions betweensoftware and/or hardware modules in the same physical device. However,other information transmissions can be between software modules and/orhardware modules in different physical devices.

The particular arrangements shown in the figures should not be viewed aslimiting. It should be understood that other embodiments can includemore or less of each element shown in a given figure. Further, some ofthe illustrated elements can be combined or omitted. Yet further, anexample embodiment can include elements that are not illustrated in thefigures.

While various aspects and embodiments have been disclosed herein, otheraspects and embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art.The various aspects and embodiments disclosed herein are for purpose ofillustration and are not intended to be limiting, with the true scopebeing indicated by the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computing system comprising: one or moredatabases disposed within a remote network management platform, whereinthe one or more databases include a data model, wherein the data modelrepresents configuration and operational characteristics of computingdevices disposed within a managed network, wherein the managed networkis managed by the remote network management platform, and wherein theconfiguration and operational characteristics include key performanceindicators related to the managed network; and one or more serverdevices disposed within the remote network management platform andconfigured to: receive, by way of a graphical user interface displayedon a client device, a request to install or upgrade a performanceanalytics dashboard displayable by the graphical user interface, whereinthe performance analytics dashboard defines a data visualization in codethat specifies how the data visualization causes information about aparticular key performance indicator to be displayed in the performanceanalytics dashboard, determine that installing or upgrading theperformance analytics dashboard includes an update to data within thedata model, in response to determining that installing or upgrading theperformance analytics dashboard includes the update to the data withinthe data model: display, by way of the graphical user interface, updatedcode that corresponds to the data visualization, wherein the graphicaluser interface is enabled to modify the updated code, and query, by wayof the graphical user interface, permission to process the update to thedata within the data model, receive, by way of the graphical userinterface, permission to process the update to the data within the datamodel, and in response to receiving permission to process the update tothe data within the data model, update the data within the data modeland install or upgrade the performance analytics dashboard, wherein whenthe data model includes the code, the data visualization is displayableon the graphical user interface to represent the particular keyperformance indicator.
 2. The computing system of claim 1, wherein thecode comprises extensible markup language (XML) or JavaScript ObjectNotation (JSON) definitions, and wherein the XML or JSON definitions arestored in the one or more databases.
 3. The computing system of claim 2,wherein the one or more server devices are configured to: export, by wayof the graphical user interface, the code to a file stored on the clientdevice.
 4. The computing system of claim 2, wherein the one or moreserver devices are configured to: import, by way of the graphical userinterface, the code from a file stored on the client device.
 5. Thecomputing system of claim 1, wherein the one or more server devices areconfigured to: provide, by way of the graphical user interface, a listof available performance analytics dashboards, wherein the performanceanalytics dashboard is one of the available performance analyticsdashboards, and wherein the request to install or upgrade theperformance analytics dashboard is received as a selection from thelist.
 6. The computing system of claim 1, wherein the client device isdisposed within the managed network.
 7. The computing system of claim 1,wherein when the data model does not include the code, the datavisualization is displayable on the graphical user interface torepresent an error condition.
 8. The computing system of claim 1,wherein the data visualization comprises a time series, a list, a chart,a graph, a speedometer, or a dial that represents the particular keyperformance indicator, or any combination thereof.
 9. The computingsystem of claim 1, wherein the one or more server devices are configuredto: provide, by way of the graphical user interface, a graphicalrepresentation of the data visualization, wherein providing thegraphical representation of the data visualization causes a display unitof the client device to display the graphical representation of the datavisualization.
 10. A method comprising: receiving, by one or more serverdevices and from a client device, a request to install or upgrade aperformance analytics dashboard of a graphical user interface displayedon the client device, wherein the performance analytics dashboarddefines a data visualization in code that specifies how the datavisualization causes information about a particular key performanceindicator to be displayed in the performance analytics dashboard,wherein the one or more servers are disposed within a remote networkmanagement platform and have access to a data model, wherein the datamodel represents configuration and operational characteristics ofcomputing devices disposed within a managed network, wherein the managednetwork is managed by the remote network management platform, andwherein the configuration and operational characteristics include keyperformance indicators; determining, by the one or more server devices,that installing or upgrading the performance analytics dashboardincludes an update to data within the data model; in response todetermining that installing or upgrading the performance analyticsdashboard includes the update to the data within the data model:displaying, by way of the graphical user interface, updated code thatcorresponds to the data visualization, wherein the graphical userinterface is enabled to modify the updated code; and querying, by way ofthe graphical user interface, permission to process the update to thedata within the data model; receiving, by the one or more server devicesand by way of the graphical user interface, permission to process theupdate to the data within the data model; and in response to receivingpermission to process the update to the data within the data model,updating, by the one or more server devices, the data within the datamodel and installing or upgrading, by the one or more server devices,the performance analytics dashboard, wherein when the data modelincludes the code, the data visualization is displayable on thegraphical user interface to represent the particular key performanceindicator.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the code comprisesextensible markup language (XML) or JavaScript Object Notation (JSON)definitions.
 12. The method of claim 10, comprising: providing, by oneor more server devices and by way of the graphical user interface, alist of available performance analytics dashboards, wherein theperformance analytics dashboard is one of the available performanceanalytics dashboards, and wherein the request to install or upgrade theperformance analytics dashboard is received as a selection from thelist.
 13. The method of claim 10, wherein when the data model does notinclude the code, the data visualization is displayable on the graphicaluser interface to represent an error condition.
 14. The method of claim10, comprising: providing, by one or more server devices and by way ofthe graphical user interface, a graphical representation of the datavisualization, wherein providing the graphical representation of thedata visualization causes a display unit of the client device to displaythe graphical representation of the data visualization.
 15. An articleof manufacture including a non-transitory computer-readable medium,having stored thereon program instructions that, upon execution by acomputing system, cause the computing system to perform operationscomprising: receiving, from a client device, a request to install orupgrade a performance analytics dashboard of a graphical user interfacedisplayed on the client device, wherein the performance analyticsdashboard defines a data visualization in code that specifies how thedata visualization causes information about a particular key performanceindicator to be displayed in the performance analytics dashboard,wherein one or more server devices are disposed within a remote networkmanagement platform and have access to a data model, wherein the datamodel represents configuration and operational characteristics ofcomputing devices disposed within a managed network, wherein the managednetwork is managed by the remote network management platform, andwherein the configuration and operational characteristics include keyperformance indicators; determining that installing or upgrading theperformance analytics dashboard includes an update to data within thedata model; in response to determining that installing or upgrading theperformance analytics dashboard includes the update to the data withinthe data model: displaying, by way of the graphical user interface,updated code that corresponds to the data visualization, wherein thegraphical user interface is enabled to modify the updated code; andquerying, by way of the graphical user interface, permission to processthe update to the data within the data model; receiving, by way of thegraphical user interface, permission to process the update to the datawithin the data model; and in response to receiving permission toprocess the update to the data within the data model, updating the datawithin the data model and installing or upgrading the performanceanalytics dashboard, wherein when the data model includes the code, thedata visualization is displayable on the graphical user interface torepresent the particular key performance indicator.
 16. The article ofmanufacture of claim 15, wherein when the data model does not includethe code, the data visualization is displayable on the graphical userinterface to represent an error condition.
 17. The computing system ofclaim 1, wherein displaying, by way of the graphical user interface, theupdated code comprises displaying a portion of the updated code thatreferences the key performance indicator with an emphasized appearance.